Enlightenment

Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in Europe that lasted from the start of the Scientific Revolution in the 1620s until the start of the French Revolution in 1789. The Enlightenment era saw philosophes gather in salons and oppose the notions of absolute monarchy and the power of the Catholic Church, and they came up with the ideas of the natural rights of man, liberalism, progressivism, secularism, and constitutionalism, challenging the divine right of kings and absolute rule. Philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes developed their views on government during this time, and several kings decided to amend their rulership styles to better suit their subjects. The Enlightenment era directly led to the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, as the "social contract" theory (in which people could overthrow their rulers if the rulers were not protecting their rights) proposed launching rebellions against oppressive governments. Enlightenment paved the way for the revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries and the rise of liberalism and capitalism, while conservatism opposed the reforms of the Enlightenment movement.